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[Page [58]][Page 59]
COLIN AND ALEXIS.
1 NOW from before Aurora's rays,
2 Stern darkness with its horror flies;
3 The mountain tops begin to blaze,
4 And Phoebus gilds the eastern skies.
5 See glist'ning dew drops on the bush,
6 Reviving odours cheer the morn;
7 The warbling blackbird and the thrush,
8 Make vocal ev'ry blooming thorn.
9 Alexis join the rural lay,
10 Give welcome to the op'ning spring.
11 Why sigh'st thou thus thy hours away?
12 Come take thy pipe, and softly sing.
ALEXIS.[Page 60][Page 61]
13 Beneath these ivy mantled trees,
14 Allow me, Colin, to complain.
15 No murm'ring brook, nor whisp'ring breeze
16 Can in the least divert my pain.
17 The maid, whose charms I oft have sung,
18 Has left the plain, 'twas what I fear'd,
19 And o'er her shoulders, careless hung,
20 A Caledonian plaid appear'd.
21 Of ancient note on Scotia's plain,
22 And by her grandam often wore,
23 Its crimson hue was free from stain,
24 Which made Calista shine the more.
25 Yea still she shines; her radient eyes
26 Add lustre to the brightest day;
27 Each feature strikes with new surprise,
28 And various beauties still display.
29 But why should I recount them still?
30 'Tis only to increase my pain.
31 She bids these verdant fields farewell,
32 And goes to seek a richer swain.
33 Calista, with thy rapid flight,
34 Is vanish'd each delightful gleam.
35 Can Drife's fair banks give more delight,
36 Than Eckles' gently winding stream?
37 Do sweeter scents perfume the grove,
38 Or fairer flow'rs adorn the vale?
39 Do comelier swains now talk of love,
40 And cheer thee with their am'rous tale?
41 More sprightly youths may feel the smart,
42 And court thee with assiduous care;
43 But none of all who seek thy heart
44 Avows a passion more sincere.
45 Then haste Calista, save the swain,
46 Who in thy absence ever sighs;
47 Add fresher beauties to the plain,
48 And bid more pleasing prospects rise.
49 Give to the flowers a livelier hue;
50 Thy presence makes all nature gay.
51 O lovely maid! when blest with you,
52 Each season seems the month of May.
53 The warblers now, with plaintive note,
54 Seem to accord with ev'ry sigh;
55 The shepherds have their songs forgot,
56 And laid their pipes in silence by.
57 Since thy retreat, O charming fair!
58 Day after day my hopes destroy.
59 O save Alexis from despair,
60 And crown succeeding scenes with joy.
About this text
Author: Janet Little (later Richmond)
Themes:
Genres:
dialogue
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Source edition
Little, Janet, 1759-1813. The Poetical Works of Janet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. Air: Printed by John & Peter Wilson, 1792, pp. [58]-61. (ESTC T126549) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Janet Little (later Richmond)
- AN ACROSTIC UPON A YOUNG WOMAN, WRITTEN BY HER LOVER. ()
- ALCANZAR. ()
- ALMEDA AND FLAVIA. ()
- AMANDA: AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF MRS. —, PERSONATING HER HUSBAND. ()
- ANOTHER EPISTLE TO NELL. ()
- THE CAPTIVATED SOLDIER. ()
- CELIA AND HER LOOKING GLASS. ()
- DAMON AND PHILANDER. ()
- THE ENVIED KISS. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO A LADY. November, 1789. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO MR. ROBERT BURNS. ()
- EPISTLE TO NELL, WROTE FROM LOUDOUN CASTLE. ()
- AN EXTEMPORARY ACROSTIC. ()
- THE FICKLE PAIR. ()
- FROM ALONZO TO DELIA. ()
- FROM DELIA TO ALONZO. ()
- FROM DELIA TO ALONZO. WHO HAD SENT HER A SLIGHTING EPISTLE. ()
- FROM FLAVIA TO CARLOS. ()
- FROM PHILANDER TO EUMENES. ()
- FROM SNIPE, A FAVOURITE DOG, TO HIS MASTER. May, 1791. ()
- GIVEN TO A LADY WHO ASKED ME TO WRITE A POEM. ()
- LOTHARIO. ()
- THE LOTTERY TICKET. ()
- LUCINA: AN ELEGY. ()
- THE MONTH'S LOVE. ()
- NELL'S ANSWER. ()
- ON A GENTLEMAN'S PROPOSING TO TRAVEL 300 MILES TO SEE J—. H—. ESQ.'S CHILD. ()
- ON A VISIT TO MR. BURNS. ()
- ON AN UNLOOKED-FOR SEPARATION FROM A FRIEND. ()
- ON HALLOWEEN. ()
- ON HAPPINESS. ()
- ON READING LADY MARY MONTAGUE AND MRS. ROWE'S LETTERS. ()
- ON SEEING MR. — BAKING CAKES. ()
- ON THE BIRTH OF J—. H—. ESQ.'S SON. NOVEMBER 15, 1790. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF J—. H—. ESQ. JUNE, 1790. ()
- ON THE SPRING. ()
- A POEM ON CONTENTMENT. INSCRIBED TO JANET NICOL, A POOR OLD WANDERING WOMAN, WHO LIVES BY THE WALL AT LOUDOUN AND USED SOMETIMES TO BE VISITED BY THE COUNTESS. ()
- THE RIVAL SWAINS. ()
- SYLVIA AND ARMEDA. ()
- TO A LADY WHO SENT THE AUTHOR SOME PAPER WITH A READING OF SILLAR'S POEMS. ()
- TO A LADY, A PATRONESS OF THE MUSES, ON HER RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS. ()
- TO A YOUNG MAN UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH FOR FORGERY. FROM HIS MISTRESS. ()
- TO HOPE. ()
- TO MY AUNTY. ()
- TO NELL WHEN AT MOFFAT WELL. ()
- TO THE COUNTESS OF LOUDOUN. ()
- TO THE PUBLIC. ()
- THE UNFORTUNATE RAMBLER. ()
- UPON A YOUNG LADY'S BREAKING A LOOKING-GLASS. ()
- UPON A YOUNG LADY'S LEAVING LOUDOUN CASTLE. ()
- VERSES WRITTEN ON A FOREIGNER'S VISITING THE GRAVE OF A SWISS GENTLEMAN, BURIED AMONG THE DESCENDENTS OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, GUARDIAN OF SCOTLAND IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. ()
- WILLIAM AND MARY. ()
- WRITTEN JANUARY FIRST, 1792. ()
- A YOUNG LADY'S LAMENTATION FOR THE LOSS OF HER SISTER BY MARRIAGE. ()
- THE YOUNG MAN'S RESOLUTION. ()